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by freediver 1140 days ago
Great questions!

> This is a different claim from your blog post on 08/03/23 where the cost of each search was 1.25 cents.

Yes, cost of search has significantly increased since. Microsoft raised prices 6x and it is 2.5 cents to do a search with the Bing API alone. We are trying to absorb much of that through creative ways so that users do not see it.

> If this is the case, why not differentiate the subscriptions based on their value-add features and operate an upper bound of $25/mo on the amount charged for searches for all tiers?

Because the cost of all other features pales in comparison to the cost of search. In general if a feature does not costs us anything we do not charge the user for it (example: bangs are free).

> If you're making money off of the subscription, why don't the search quotas roll over?

Two main reasons:

- It means more billing systems to build and we are eager to work on search features like this update

- Something still has to pay for all our additional costs like free trial account searches and salaries

> It's worth bearing in mind that issues for potential users may not be a problem for existing users, apportioning time to the desires of both groups is a difficult balance.

Agreed and it is a matter of product roadmap prioritization. While the issue was previously raised, it had only one upvote. Now that we got more alarming feedback it was prioritized internally and 5 and 9 from your list should be addressed asap (others do not really apply as we do run a full search for those).

> My personal perspective is that it's absolutely unacceptable for a company to double-charge due to their own UI decisions.

I agree with this perspective and as I hopefully explained that was not the intent, but a bug.